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Jerry Irwin, Photographer

Guest Curator: Dennis Morgan

Opening Reception and Gallery Crawl—July 13, 5:30-9pm

Jerry Irwin’s photography career includes images of Bikers, Mennonites, Skydivers and Pennsylvania published in leading magazines including National Geographic, Life and Sports Illustrated.

American Darling

Paintings by Jonathan Chamberlain and Brian Brown

We love America. Where else could this happen? These colors don’t run because the paint is now dry. “American Darling” features work by two Pittsburgh artists interested in the essence of image-making and the direction of the Pop idiom. Fueled by a love of American design and culture, their work captures a spirit of a confused past while dealing with a painful present.

The figures in Brian Brown’s paintings seem to have a self confident gaze, operating in a vein similar to surrealist painters, but rather than referencing the subconscious, engage a fundamental imaginative trait—found more often in the work of early illustrators and war era pulp artists.

Jonathan Chamberlain’s paintings maintain a genuine charm, while retaining a playful detachment. His work riffs off of retro design motifs, equally appropriating cultural ephemera and developing fresh approaches to visual convention. They search for lost time, and explore the shared familiarity of graphic iconography. His compositions are meant to slow the eye and capture an arresting attention.

Both painters have exhibited nationally, Chamberlain most recently at Future Tenant Gallery, and Brown, who currently has a solo exhibition at 709 Penn Ave. Gallery.